Arizona agrees to talk about storing water for Nevada

PHOENIX - Arizona has agreed to begin formal talks with Nevada about a water-banking plan that would help Las Vegas cope with its growth and shore up some of Arizona's depleted aquifers.

Under the proposal, Nevada would pay Arizona to store water underground for future use, The Arizona Republic reported Thursday. Arizona would give up nothing, officials say. Nevada would supply its own water and pay to pump it in and out of the ground.

''It will be Nevada water stored in Arizona,'' said George Renner, a member of the Arizona Water Banking Authority Board, which cleared the way Wednesday for discussions to begin. ''There will be no risk to any Arizona water user.''

Some critics have questioned whether Nevada will develop a long-term taste for banked water and stop searching for more permanent sources, but that state's lead negotiator says the plan will serve as a temporary stopgap and nothing more.

''We don't view it as a permanent water right,'' said Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. ''We'll have a right to whatever we bank, but that's a finite amount. We're doing a lot of things to deal with growth and to buffer against drought.''

Arizona actually started its water bank not to serve other states, but to help recharge underground aquifers that have been emptied by too many years of pumping. Since 1997, the state has stashed away more than 600,000 acre-feet of water, enough to serve the residential needs of about 3 million people for a year.

As proposed, Arizona would store a set amount of water each year on Nevada's behalf. The water would come from Nevada's unused share of the Colorado. Mulroy said Nevada envisions storing as much as 1.2 million acre-feet over the long term.

When Nevada needed the water, it would initiate a bank transaction, informing Arizona of the amount it wanted to withdraw. Nevada would then take that amount from Lake Mead. Arizona would take that much less from the Colorado and instead draw the same amount from its underground storage areas.

Nevada would pay all the costs to store the water and to pump it back up again.

Not everyone is convinced Arizona should deal with Nevada. Steve Weatherspoon, a member of the board that governs the Central Arizona Project, says he worries that Nevada won't want to let go of its new water source.

A more serious concern, Renner said, is California's disclosure recently that it wants to join Arizona's bank. California would store three or four times what Nevada proposes, which could overtax Arizona's resources. So far, Arizona has not opened talks with California.